The Uttar Pradesh Story.

When Narendra Modi coined the word "Congress mukt Bharat" for the first time, nobody took his words seriously. Many considered his words as mere electoral rhetoric. The recent election results in five states has made one to take these words rather seriously. The outcome of the elections has made every body to sit up and take notice of his words.

The energy he has put into the election campaign is simply amazing. The whirlwind tour he made across five election bound states almost forgetting that he has a responsibility of office of Prime Minister goes to show the determination and resolve to win at any cost. There is a saying - Well begun is done. He wrote the preface for victory with introduction of demonetisation. This surgical strike of demonetisation purportedly to curb black money has successfully achieved the alleged unstated and hidden agenda of deflating the opposition in the wake of elections. How far it is successful in bringing out black money is debatable and the silence of RBI and the government regarding the figures of black money gives credence to the to the theories that it has not. Be that as it may, one thing was sure, it did deliver a body blow to the opposition and took the steam off from them. Because cash (black money) was the king in the election. With the opposition weakened, he took them head on.

He connected to the masses with his gifted oratorial skills, extempore speeches often sprinkled with histrionics. He is adept and mastered the art of adapting the narrative to suit that moment and to connect to that audience he is addressing. No other opposition party has the advantage of having a leader like him. And to supplement this, he was ably assisted by that maverick Amit Shah, the party president. He organized and galvanized the cadres. He stratagised to the last minute and the last mile. His organizing and networking prowess combined with superlative speaking abilities of Modi decimated the opposition. This heady cocktail of Modi and Shah proved too much for the opposition.

Congress, with Sonia Gandhi fighting illness and Rahul Gandhi being no match for Modi is now rudderless and clueless. The unprecedented number of seats won by BJP has almost written obituary for Congress. Slowly and steadily BJP is inching to pan India and once pan India Congress is losing ground.

Congress lost its game long ago when it sent its tallest and most acceptable leader Mr. Pranab Mukherjee to Raisina hills. He was sent to Rashtrapathi Bhavan to project Rahul Gandhi for the future leadership of Congress. This is the blunder committed by Congress and proved too costly. Only Pranab Mukherjee in the Congress could have given the run for the money to Modi.  Unfortunately for Congress there is no future as long as Rahul Gandhi is at the helm. It has got to rediscover itself, reinvent itself. It has got to metamorphosize. It is a very tall order. Presently it is all at sea.

K.N.Krishnan,
Vice-president, SEWA.